Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law

OBJECTIVES: Many agencies use risk assessment instruments to guide decisions about pretrial detention, postconviction incarceration, and release from custody. Although some policymakers believe that these tools might reduce overincarceration and recidivism rates, others are concerned that they may exacerbate racial and ethnic disparities in placements. The objective of this systematic review was to test these assertions. HYPOTHESES: It was hypothesized that the adoption of tools might slightly decrease incarceration rates, and that impact on disparities might vary by tool and context. METHOD: Published and unpublished studies were identified by searching 13 databases, reviewing reference lists, and contacting experts. In total, 22 studies met inclusion criteria; these studies included 1,444,499 adolescents and adults who were accused or convicted of a crime. Each study was coded by 2 independent raters using a data extraction form and a risk of bias tool. Results were aggregated using both a narrative approach and meta-analyses. RESULTS: = .020). However, after removing studies with a high risk of bias, the results were no longer significant. CONCLUSIONS: Although risk assessment tools might help to reduce restrictive placements, the strength of this evidence is low. Furthermore, because of a lack of research, it is unclear how tools impact racial and ethnic disparities in placements. As such, future research is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

This experimental article helps to understand the motives behind cooperation in the prisoner’s dilemma. It manipulates the pay-off in case both players defect in a two-player, one-shot prisoner’s dilemma and explains the degree of cooperation by a combination of four motives: efficiency, conditional cooperation, fear and greed. All motives are significant but some become only significant if one controls for all remaining ones. This seems to be the reason why earlier attempts at explaining choices in the prisoner’s dilemma with personality have not been successful.

Vast amounts of personal data of children are collected and processed in today’s increasingly digital, connected society by public and private actors. Children do have a right to the protection of their personal data and, according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), even merit specific protection. Children should be clearly informed of and understand what happens with their data when it is collected, processed, stored and transferred. To that end, specific transparency standards require the provision of information in a clear and plain language that the child can easily understand. In this article, after having mapped these existing requirements, the privacy policies of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok — services which are very popular with children — are evaluated. The findings suggest that such policies are still complex, long and primarily text based. In order to improve this, possible practical ways of enhancing transparency for children such as legal visualization, co-design, co-creation techniques and participatory design methods which focus on presenting legal information in a transparent and clear manner are explored.

This article aims at uncovering the dynamics between non-recognition – real or perceived – and increasingly violent practices, with a case study focusing on the representations of the violent radical Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun following the 9/11 attacks and the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan in 2001. The article argues that these two events were considered salient by the group in terms of both ‘Muslims’ social value and self-esteem and were presented, on behalf of the Ummah, as instances of non-recognition. From this interpretation, the group's discourse became increasingly political, structured and violence-endorsing. The article concludes by showing that Al-Muhajiroun's distorted claims for recognition translated into policy prescriptions advocating an all-out Jihad to try and establish a world caliphate as an alternative, superior hegemony.

OBJECTIVE: Research indicates moderate-to-limited integration of the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) principles in probation case planning. Efforts to improve implementation are important targets for research, policy, and practice. This study examined the ability of two juvenile probation departments to implement RNR principles with fidelity following a comprehensive implementation protocol that included RNR-related policies, creation of a service matrix for criminogenic need-to-service matching, and extensive staff training. HYPOTHESES: The researchers anticipated fidelity to the risk and need principles would be stronger than previous studies. METHOD: This implementation study involved secondary data analysis of services received over 10 months for 254 adolescent offenders (76.80% male, 72.40% White, M age = 16.13 years) from two probation departments following adoption of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory. RESULTS: Probation departments evidenced strong fidelity to the risk principle, such that higher risk youth were assigned more services with higher intensity. Fidelity to the need principle was moderate at best (an average 24.61% to 29.38% need-to-service match) and varied by criminogenic need, overall risk level, and the operational definition of criminogenic need. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive implementation practices are associated with strong fidelity to the risk principle, but it may take longer for probation departments to achieve strong fidelity to the need principle. Researchers should identify more feasible methods for implementing the need principle and strive for a consensus on methods for measuring need-to-service match that are also consistent with probation policies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND: A challenge in human genome research is how to describe the populations being studied. The use of improper and/or imprecise terms has the potential to both generate and reinforce prejudices and to diminish the clinical value of the research. The issue of population descriptors has not attracted enough academic attention outside North America and Europe. In January 2012, we held a two-day workshop, the first of its kind in Japan, to engage in interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars in the humanities, social sciences, medical sciences, and genetics to begin an ongoing discussion of the social and ethical issues associated with population descriptors. DISCUSSION: Through the interdisciplinary dialogue, we confirmed that the issue of race, ethnicity and genetic research has not been extensively discussed in certain Asian communities and other regions. We have found, for example, the continued use of the problematic term, "Mongoloid" or continental terms such as "European," "African," and "Asian," as population descriptors in genetic studies. We, therefore, introduce guidelines for reporting human genetic studies aimed at scientists and researchers in these regions. CONCLUSION: We need to anticipate the various potential social and ethical problems entailed in population descriptors. Scientists have a social responsibility to convey their research findings outside of their communities as accurately as possible, and to consider how the public may perceive and respond to the descriptors that appear in research papers and media articles.

Corporate liability regimes have two major social goals: inducing corporations to internalize all social ramifications of their activity; and inducing corporations to prevent, deter, and report their employee misconduct. The scholarly polemic has shown that none of the liability regimes recognized thus far in the literature efficiently satisfies both social goals. Following a Law and Economics approach, this paper develops an innovative regime that may comprise an optimal corporate liability framework in most settings. The Compound Corporate Liability Regime developed in this paper is a two-layer strict liability regime. Under this regime, corporations that self-report their employee misconduct incur a sanction that is reduced by the variable enforcement costs saved due to their self-reporting. Such a liability framework aligns social and corporations’ interests, and thereby satisfies both social goals of corporate liability regimes.

Theoretical models of the legislative process are explored in order to seek an explanation of the phenomenon whereby post-colonial democracies frequently retain the legislation adopted by the imperial predecessor. This even applies to criminal codes, in spite of their presumed role in the controlling of colonial populations. A possible explanation is proffered in terms of a bureaucratic model of legislation, which seems to fit both colonial powers and some democracies. Under this model, the character and content of the legislation may depend as much upon the personalities involved in its drafting and promotion, as upon political or structural factors.

, . , , ,

In this chapter, we seek to demonstrate the uses of the case study for sociolegal research on criminal law. The case study, first and foremost, is less a single research method than a research approach. Unlike experimental setups or survey research, case studies are often conducted using a variety of methods and a variety of source materials. And while survey and experimental research tend to want to cover many cases, the case study, in contrast, tends to concentrate on only one, or a highly limited number of cases. The case study is “an in-depth, multifaceted investigation, using qualitative research methods, of a single social phenomenon. [...]

Part one is a brief history of Italian Visual Sociology. Andrea Pitasi sketches his main hypothesis: as a complex middle range theory, visual sociology might become a specific discipline. The theoretical concepts and proposals to create it are summarized in the conclusion. In part two, Patrizia Faccioli deals with the Italian sociological mainstream's conception of visual sociology. From this perspective, visual sociology is considered a methodology, which the author affirms as an incomplete point of view. On the basis of her experience of research, she assumes that visual sociology may also be a paradigm which she sketches as a phenomenological paradigm of visual knowledge

This paper argues that researchers who study migrants’ digital inclusion need to shed light on migrants’ use of digital technologies within the time frame and context of ‘migration travel’ and while migrants are in transition to a new or safer place for resettlement. In support of this argument, the paper proposes a ‘travelling with the traveller’ research framework that applies an ethnographic methodology and aims at the researcher experiencing or even becoming an integral part of the migration travel. The paper presents this travelling with the traveller framework and discusses the implications of digital inclusion (or the absence of it) for migrants’ experience, to combat or alleviate of all sorts of adversities, volatile emotions, unanticipated problems and moments of uncertainty and crisis migrants so often encounter on the move from homeland to another land, from one life setting to another. Further, the paper presents the fieldwork processes and data collection techniques of the proposed travelling with the traveller framework, such as participant observation, informal and open-ended interviews, as well as the use of video and photographic footage.

This commentary highlights the scientific history of the NIH-Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and corroborates Sarpatwari's theme of private capture of value created by the public. The commentary also identifies missteps by the Trump and Biden Administrations and offers policy recommendations: better contracts with and incentives for pharmaceutical manufacturers and a not-for-profit "public option" for pharmaceutical development.

Abstract In contrast to traditional extradition law, the political offense exemption has been abolished within the framework of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Notwithstanding its overall success, the EAW does not constitute an adequate instrument with regard to political offenses. In light of the recent case of the former Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, the abolition has proven to be too hasty and the justificatory force behind the principles of mutual trust and recognition is, with respect hereto, rather limited. The damage caused to these principles by upholding the exemption would be negligible, given the small number of cases—Puigdemont being the first political offender requested under the aegis of the EAW. However, the potential benefits are substantial, given that the exemption provides for a higher level of human rights protection—analogous to the values of European Union (EU). Solely relying on the double criminality requirement in order to properly take into account the specificities of the Member States’ legal systems essentially positions the judges at the forefront of where mutual trust and constitutional identity collide. Moreover, the exemption prevents states from intervening in other states’ internal political conflicts, through the medium of criminal law.

The story of the mentally ill immigration detainee, Cornelia Rau, has been told by many sectors of the public media. This editorial endeavours to sort fact from fiction and to chronicle the failures in more than one jurisdiction to provide her with the anti-psychotic intervention that she needed. It examines the dynamics which may have led to the deterioration in her mental state, particularly during the months when she was detained at the Baxter Immigration Detention Centre in South Australia. It argues that the closed Palmer Inquiry into Cornelia Rau is misconceived and at risk of failing to grapple adequately with the mental health issues apparent from Cornelia Rau's experiences. It argues that, in spite of the limitations of the civil law as an instrument for social change, the landmark decision of Finn J in S v Secretary, Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2005] FCA 549 shows that civil actions brought by persons such as Cornelia Rau, together with sustained pressure and exposure by the media, constitute the only means by which the callousness and counter-therapeutic nature of Australia's immigration detention policies may be changed.

<JATS1:p>This book explores the complex landscape of costs and funding of civil justice.</JATS1:p> <JATS1:p>Access to civil justice continues to be undermined by State retrenchment of legal aid budgets, increases in procedural costs, the complexity of court procedures, and severe delays in the dispensation of justice. This has resulted in a shift from public to private funding of civil litigation, and the emergence of new business models and forms of private justice.</JATS1:p> <JATS1:p>The book explores the dynamic landscape of legal costs and financing from 3 perspectives: regulatory frameworks in public and private funding; new trends and challenges in contemporary legal financing; and the transformative potential of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures to streamline civil justice processes and expand access to justice.</JATS1:p> <JATS1:p>By addressing the intersectionality of legal, economic, political, market and social dynamics, the book helps readers gain a better understanding of the inherent complexity of costs, funding, and their implications for access to justice.</JATS1:p> <JATS1:p>This timely resource offers academics, policymakers, and practitioners valuable insights into the dynamics that shape the current state and future prospects of civil justice in Europe to help create sustainable pathways for improved access to justice.</JATS1:p>

The second, expanded edition of the acclaimed Encyclopedia represents a major update of the most authoritative reference work in the field of law and economics and the nine print volumes are now released online as a single integrated product. The Encyclopedia provides balanced and comprehensive coverage of the major domain in law and economics, including: criminal law, regulation, property law, contract law, tort law, labor and employment law, antitrust law, procedural law, and the production of legal rules. Each theme or volume is overseen by a leading scholar and each of the 166 entries is prepared by an expert in the field, providing an in-depth and authoritative overview of the individual topic, combined with an exhaustive bibliography, allowing users to access and filter the entire corpus of literature in law and economics. As with the print edition, the Encyclopedia is unique in serving both as an entry point and a platform for advanced research. The online edition is enhanced with Elgaronline’s powerful search tools, facilitating the search for key terms across the entire Encyclopedia, whilst the browse function allows users to move seamlessly between the volumes. These elements combine to create a powerful research tool for any researcher or scholar in the field of law and economics.

The paper proposes a theoretical framework to explain policy drift, when identity moderates the principle-agent relation between the legislator and the bureaucracy. Our model points to the subtle interaction between different administrative levels of bureaucracy and how this interaction shapes the structure and size of budgetary allocations. Conceptually we enrich the public choice tradition of modeling bureaucracies by insights which fall broadly into the study of organizational behavior.

AS inquiry broadens into the human condition, conflict develops in the gray area of individual rights and social benefit. An irony of the free society is that the value of free inquiry may usurp the equally important value of individual freedom.Resolution of conflicting issues has traditionally been the domain of the law as balancing agent between the rights of the individual and the benefits for society. In modern times society has placed high value on the quest for knowledge, as well as human dignity and freedom. Thus, in the scientific arena, the extent and nature of the intrusion must . . .

In the seventh and final chapter of his «The Enforcement of Morals», P. Devlin elaborates on a several of arguments for his polemic with H. L. A. Hart on issues of the relationship between law and morals. Based on the recommendations of the Wolfenden Committee which proposed a radical reform of English criminal law in the direction of decriminalizing a few of criminally punishable offences with immoral content, Devlin notes their extreme contradiction in terms of protecting the values of public morals. The chapter also criticizes the key arguments of J. S. Mill’s doctrine of the balance of liberty and state coercion